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ABSTRACT
This article outlines a visual text reading based on social semiotics approach,
that is the visual grammar. It is an account of the explicit and implicit
knowledge and practices around a resource, consisting of the elements and
rules underlying a culture-specific form of visual communication. It required a
general comprehension of social semiotics to obtain a deeply understanding to
visual grammar. The differences between social semiotics and general
semiotics expressed to accomplish its purpose. The concern of visual grammar
is the relationship between ‘drawn participants’ and social life. Visual grammar
can be positioned as a contemporary approach to visual texts meaning-making.
Study of visual arts seems to entail visual grammar to play a more important
role amid the phenomenon of visual culture that increasingly characterizes the
lives of today's society.
Keywords:Semiotic resources, visual texts, ‘drawn participants’, narrative represen-
tational structure, transactional action, social meanings.
INTRODUCTION
Contribution of this paper to art studies is expected to widen horizon of ‘meaning
production’, mainly in social semiotics perspective. Specifically it is expected to be
useful in analysing visual texts in today's contemporary life. This paper aims to
indicate the social semiotics as one point of view of art research, which has different
meaning from general semiotics, and to present the structure of visual reading as one
of the social semiotic analysis models. Therefore, Social semiotics of Hodge and Kress
(1988) and Reading images, the grammar of visual design of Kress and van Leeuwen
(2006) are exposed as the main references.
Issues in this paper are the role of visual texts in social semiotics context and ways to
analyse it using visual grammar model. Exposure begins with historical background
and further presents the definition of social semiotics and its differences to general
semiotics. It also examines the key elements and principles of analysis. Visual
grammar is positioned as a model of social semiotic analysis.
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1. Social semiotics
The term of semiotics is derived from a Latin word semio, absorption of the Greek
semeion, which means a sign or signal. This term refers to an ancient use in
medicines; a diagnosis act named semeiosis process. Late in 17th century John Locke
proposed the term of semiotics into the branch of philosophy which means the
doctrine of signs. At the end of the 19th century until early in 20th century was the
beginning period of modern semiotics marked by the birth of two main ideas:
Semiotics by Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) in America, and semiology by
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) in France. Pierce's idea of semiotics based on
philosophical fields and forms a triadic structure, such as all nature phenomena
(representamen) that known as a sign (object) which determines a cognitive effect
upon a person (interpretant). Saussure's idea of semiology is based on linguistics
fields and builds a diadic structure. These are the general systems or rules of the
signs to express ideas (langue) and to show how people use the system of the signs in
particular group (parole). In the following periods, this Saussurean concept in
linguistics domain is developed into non-linguistics communication domain.
At least, three schools of semiotics have applied ideas from the domain of linguistics
to non-linguistic modes of communication. The first was Prague School in the 1930s
and early 1940s, which developes the work of Russian Formalists by providing it
with a linguistic basis. Notions such as ‘foregrounding’ were applied to language as
well as to the study of art (Mukarovsky, Honzl, Jakobson, and Bogatyrev). The
second was Paris School in the 1960s and 1970s, which applies ideas from de
Saussure and other linguists to painting, photography, fashion, cinema, and music
(Schefer, Barthes, Lindekens, Metz, Nattiez). The third was late in 1980s that
marked by developing Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics, by a number of
scholars in Australia (Threadgold, Thibault, O’Toole, Kress, van Leeuwen).
In Semiotics Encyclopedia, social semiotics refers to two different entities but related
to each other: firstly, 'social semiotics' without capital letters is broadly oriented
semiotics. It is heterogeneous and encompasses many disciplines related to the social
dimension of meanings, both in communication media, production, interpretation and
circulation, as well as in their implications in the social process as cause and effect;
Secondly, 'Social Semiotics' with capital letters is the school of linguistics and
semiotics which specifically addresses the social aspects (Hodge, www. semioticon.
com/seo/S/ social_ semiotics.html)
Halliday (1978) has introduced the term of social semiotics (as cited in Hjorland,
Birger and Nicolaisen, 2007, p. 1) as follows:
"By their everyday acts of meaning, people act out the social structure, affirming their own
statuses and roles, and establishing and transmitting the shared systems of value and of
knowledge. [...] We have to proceed from the outside inwards, interpreting language by
reference to its place in the social process. This is not the same thing as taking an isolated
sentence and planting it out in some hothouse that we call a social context. It involves the
difficult task of focusing attention simultaneously on the actual and the potential meanings,
interpreting both discourse and the linguistic system that lies behind it in terms of the infinitely
complex network of meaning potential that is what we call the culture."
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Ten years later Hodge and Kress systemized this Halliday’s term into Social
Semiotics. The ideas was based on Marx that human real consciousness could never
be anything other than ideology. They interpreted Marx’s point as the involvement of
each individual in the exchange of ideas with one another in the real world as the
basis and the source of consciousness into a unified process of semiotics with agents,
objects and power that come from the material and social world, and it can only be
understood from its own world. Hodge and Kress have given the definition of social
semiotics as follows:
Social semiotics is primarily concerned with human semiosis as an inherently social
phenomenon in its sources, functions, contexts and effects. It is also concerned with the social
forms, through semiotic texts and semiotic practices, in all kinds of human society at all
periods of human history (Hodge, Robert and Kress,1988: 261).
The term of semiotic text in this sense contains a broader meaning, that all kinds of
signs are the vehicle of social activities. Manning shows comprehensively that social
semiotics considers as a social life, a structure of the group, belief/religion, and
cultural practices. The meaning of social relations is analogous to the structure of the
language, hence all human communication actions could be seen as a sign or text,
that should be read first in order to understand the meaning (Manning and Cullum-
Swan, 2009: 617). The firm and straight statement expressed by Gottdiener and
Lagopoulos (1986) that social semiotics is a materialistic analysis of the ideology in
everyday life (Randviir and Cobley, 2010).
Mindset
Vannini observes the mindset of general semiotics emphasizes to the important role
of the structure; general semiotics believe the interrelation of semiotic system
depends on codes or rules which order a convention of meanings in a family system,
etiquette, mathematics, or arts. He also reveals a loyalty of general semiotics to the
structures, not in understanding the way people produce, consume, and negotiate the
rule of semiotics (2007: 114-120). Therefore a mindset of general semiotics
accentuates the structures, then it is called structural semiotics. Social semiotics, on
the contrary, is refusing all preferences of the structures, and positioning the semiotic
as a site of social statuses.
Focus of Study
According to Van Leeuwen (2005: xi), general semiotics focus on the signs, whereas
the focus of social semiotics changes to the way people use semiotic resources, either
to produce objects and communicative events, or to interpret it, which is also as a
form of semiotic production in particular situation and social practices. This
statement is in line with Thibauld, that social semiotics focus on the material aspects
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In relation with these differences, contend Vannini, social semiotics study have to
recognize the dynamics of power, ranging from research design through publication
and its reception, as well as utilize the research results. For this reason, social
semiotics analyses have to ensure reflexivity that informs various aspects of the
dynamics of power associated with the semiotic process. With this reflexivity it does
not just mean the ideological dialectic can be read explicitly, but also the specific
nature and polyvocal process (inclusion of many voices and points of view as well as
excavation and retrieval of oppressed knowledge as a form of resistance against the
dominant discourse and knowledge, Bakhtin, 1981) can be revealed as the
uniqueness and validity of social semiotics (Vannini, 2007).
Discourse
The term discourse derives from the French discours; it means speech. At first, this
term is used in the linguistics field. But since it evolved into various branches of the
social sciences and humanities, then there is a diversity of meanings within the scope
of their respective disciplines. The use of this term in social semiotics is based on
Foucault (1976: 83):
In the most general and vaguest way, discourse denoted a group of verbal
performances; and by discourse, then, I meant that which was produced (perhaps all
that was produced) by the groups of signs. But I also meant a group of acts of
formulation, a series of sentences or propositions. Lastly — and it is this meaning that
was finally used (together with the first, which served in a provisional capacity) —
discourse is constituted by a group of sequences of signs, in so far as they are
statements, that is, in so far as they can be assigned particular modalities of existence.
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Genre
The term genre is generally interpreted as a text in any code that has a particularity
due to follow certain rules to produce a distinctive type. This term can be equated
with the type, stream, or a school of thought. Text could be typical when it has
characteristics that can also be recognized in other similar texts. The reason is,
people produce a certain text because of its willingness to follows the rules; it is a
kind of recipes, traditions, customs, or a model that has been adhered to generations.
Since each rule has implications for distinction with other rules, then any text that is
made under a rule would reflect the genre espoused. Genre can help a person to build
or strengthen the meaning of the text, to construct knowledge, identify the agents of
the text and set the audience characteristics.
Van Leeuwen explains there are three aspects of the construct of a genre, namely:
characteristics of content, characteristics of the form and characteristics of the
function. The content refers to the similarities characteristics of subject matter in the
discourse, rather than a discussion of the matter itself, for a discussion of a matter is
the domain of discourse. The form is seen from the similarities of the structure, and
sequence or relation between elements contained in the content. And the function
reveals from the sameness of usability in related discourse. Genre in social semiotics
among other things: sociolinguistics, pragmatism, ideology, feminism, and gender.
Style
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines style as a particular manner or technique by
which something is done, created, or performed. Van Leeuwen categorizes the style
to three kinds: individual style, social style, and lifestyle. He explains that the idea of
individual style foregrounds individual differences. There are spaces for individual
particularities although the way everybody acts usually regulated by social standard.
And the idea of social style express is not only someone personality and attitudes,
but also their social status, ‘who we are’, in a stable category such as economic class,
age, gender, social relationships, and ‘what we do’ in terms of someone's
involvement in socially regulated activities and the role he/she played within them.
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individual and personal style. According to van Leeuwen, lifestyle is more socially
than individually orientation. He argues that the existence of social or communal
style spread across the cities of the world is characterized not by the established
individual position, but by shared consumers behaviour. Besides, lifestyle is also
social as marked by many appearances, which is almost every 'distinctive way of life'
that can be expressed in fashion and accessory styles, culinary tastes, type of
communication tools, type of vehicles, sort of sport activities, and so on. Lifestyle is
another social because of the role it plays in the marketing sector, when traditionally
social indicators such as class, gender, age, education have been replaced by the
‘lifestyle market segmentation’ technique which classify consumers through a
combination of consumption patterns and attitudes.
2. Visual grammar
Kress and van Leeuwen base visual grammar on Halliday’s theoretical idea of
metafunctions:
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Kress and Leeuwen stated that approach of visual grammar starts from the social
aspect. It structure is not a simple reproduction of the structure of reality, but instead,
producing a reality picture bonded to the interests of the social community that
produces an image, circulate, and read it, so it becomes ideological. Meaning
expressed by printmakers, photographers, designers, painters and sculptors in first
and foremost are the social meanings. To explore these meanings, there are aspects
and rules of visual grammar that have to be analysed: elements and structure,
position of the participants, modality, composition, and materiality.
Narrative Representation Structure (NRS) presents the ongoing actions and events.
Similar to the structure of a sentence that contains the elements of subject-verb-
object, a subject in NRS called actor, and objects called goal. In visual text, actor can
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be a living creature, object, or other objects that are characterized prominent than the
other, either by position, size, color sharpness and contour sharpness. A verb is
synonym to the sort of action, or the events experienced, or relations between actors
to goal, and called transaction.
2.3. Modality
The term modality comes from linguistic field, referring to a value of the truth or
credibility of statements attributed to the facts. Modality in verbal language
expressed in words such as: believe me, most likely, perhaps, actually. Linguistic
resources of modality have a very important role in society. This source allows
people to make the necessary truth together, to be able to form groups that believe
the same things, so it can act together in one world integrally and effectively. In the
same way also allows one to deny the truth of other people, with all the potential
consequences owned, from exile someone from the group to the wars of religion and
ideology. However, something that considered being true in visual grammar is not
associated with the absolute truth. Truth in modality is a limited sense in answer to
the question 'how true something is revealed?'
Visual modality can depict people, places, and other things that look real, like really
exist, or as if the imagination, fantasy, caricature. Rating of modality is a social,
depending on what is considered to be real (or true, sacred) in social groups
particularly targeted by the representation. High modality means closer to reality,
and as opposed to leave away. This can be set from the depths of the parts, contrast,
color saturation and intensity, as well as sharpening-blurring background.
3.4. Composition
The composition is the arrangement of all 'drawn participants' elements as a whole.
The meaning of composition is interpreted through three interrelated systems:
information value, salience, and framing. System of value information is a placement
of elements in image zones that reflect the values of specific information. Division of
left and right side, based on the habit of writing, means that the left side is an area
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Indro Moerdisuroso. Social Semiotics and Visual Grammar
of written information, already happened, oriented to the past, certain things (called
given), and the right area is a place to be inscribed, expected to occur, oriented to the
future, uncertain things (called new). Based on philosophical relations, the topside
reflects ideal things, and the bottom side is close to reality. In division of center-
edge, related to the social aspect, the center area reflects a source or mediator of the
edges or marginal (called margin).
2.5. Materiality
Various terms related to the material aspects in visual grammar is called production.
Aspects of materiality, though is given things, but it is an important part to produce a
meaning. Gold or bronze, original oil painting or reproduction, and any material
brought meaning, include social significance. Each type of medium states a selection
of ideational, interpersonal and textual function in the significance system.
Materiality focuses on color meanings analysis related to Halliday’s metafunction.
In the ideational function, color clearly can be used to denote people, places and
things as well as classes of people, places and things, and more general ideas, such as
the colors of flag, corporate identity, safety codes, sign systems, maps. Color is also
used to convey ‘interpersonal’ meaning: to impress or intimidate, to warn against
obstructions and other hazards. It used by people to present themselves and the
values they stand for, to say in the context of specific social situations. Color also
functions at the textual level. Color can be used to create coherence in texts.
Textbooks make wide use of this, whether in ‘reading schemes’ or in mathematics
texts to indicate ‘levels’ of difficulty, or in science textbooks to provide topical unity.
The whole procedure of visual grammar analysis in social semiotics meanings is
illustrated in the graphic as follows after the conclusion.
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CONCLUSION
The social semiotics provide the visual text a vital role, as one of the material form
of ideology, which is produced circulated, consumed, and contested, both in large
and small scale, or formal and informal environments in certain communities. This
role allows researcher to place the term of ideology not only as a product in the
political practices, but also as the semiotic resources that is moving dynamically in
the market of meaning-making in all aspects of culture.
One model of social semiotic analysis of visual text is the visual grammar, an
account of the explicit and implicit knowledge and practices around a resource,
consisting of the elements and rules underlying a culture-specific form of visual
communication. The aspects analysed consist of: elements and structure, position of
the participants, modalities, composition, and materiality. Researcher can develop
this analyses in a wider framework surpassed the limitations of structural semiotics,
by involving directly into the semiotic resources around knowledge and cultural
practices in everyday life. As a study which is situated in critical paradigm, there are
very wide spaces for researcher to interact with various visual semiotic resources that
can be related each other to generate values, discourses, and a new way of seeing in a
more inclusive consciousness.
Semiotic resources
Meaning-producer
rules
writings images
sounds events
Meaning-consumer
Discourse/social meanings
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